The Early Word–Hanco’s Park Slope

February 25, 2009

As Hailey pointed out, the new Hanco’s on 7th Avenue in Park Slope, which opened on Saturday, is peddling banh mi at the inflated price of $7 each. The other, older Hanco’s in Boerum Hill sells the same sandwiches for $5.25. For comparison, the most awesome banh mi in the city (in my opinion), at Ba Xuyen rings up at $3.50. Even the relatively fancy Baoguette in Curry Hill, sells their banh mi for $5. So, $7 is pretty much unprecedented. But here’s the problem: Hanco’s must know that they have a monopoly on banh mi in the area, and a large captive audience full of people who might crave banh mi, and who can afford a $7 sandwich. So what are you going to do? Ba Xuyen is 32 blocks away–accessible, but not accessible enough for a quick bite.

So, how are these $7 banh mi? They’re…good. As they say about mediocre pizza or sex, middling banh mi are still pretty good. The classic (above) is filled with paté, ham, roast ground pork and pork roll, along with the usual pickled carrot and daikon, cucumber and cilantro. Ask for it spicy, and you get a thin slick of sriracha along with the mayo, and slices of jalapeño. The pickles are cut thinner than usual, and more clumpy than you’d like, and the paté doesn’t have much to say. Still, it’s tasty. I liked that the bread is softer and thinner than usual, and I know that’s unorthodox, but it means the roof of your mouth doesn’t get cut up.

More banh mi, after the jump.

Here you have the roast pork version, a non-funky banh mi if there ever was one. The pork is caramelized, and a bit sweet in a good way. It’s also $7.

And here are the summer rolls ($4.50), which come covered in plastic wrap and are sad and wilted. There’s no mint or basil in there, just lettuce, rice vermicelli and some decent shrimp. But that usual hoisin-peanut sauce? I’ll always love that.